SAS Data Governance vs erwin Data Modeler comparison

Quest Software and SAS are both solutions in the Data Governance category. Quest Software is ranked #14 with an average rating of 8.5, while SAS is ranked #20 with an average rating of 10.0. Quest Software holds a 0.0% mindshare in DG, compared to SAS’s 0.3% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Quest Software users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of SAS users who would recommend it.

erwin Data Modeler

Read 40 erwin Data Modeler reviews

4,967 Views
0 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

SAS Data Governance

Read 1 SAS Data Governance review

214 Views
214 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

erwin Data Modeler

SAS Data Governance

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between erwin Data Modeler and SAS Data Governance based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, Collibra and others in Data Governance.

To learn more, read our detailed Data Governance Report (Updated: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Data Governance

September 2025

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Helped 872,029 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

erwin Data Modeler

Ranking in Data Governance

14th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Enterprise Architecture Management (3rd), Business Process Design (9th)

SAS Data Governance

Ranking in Data Governance

20th

Average Rating

10.0

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Data Governance category, the mindshare of erwin Data Modeler is 0.0%. The mindshare of SAS Data Governance is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Data Governance Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
erwin Data Modeler	0.0%
SAS Data Governance	0.3%
Other	99.7%

Data Governance

Featured Reviews

JorgeSanz

Data Governance Senior Advisor at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Streamline data modeling and automate network changes for increased efficiency

The initial setup depends on the tool if you are using the data model environment. Stopping the server could be complex and require strong expertise. If you have everything set up and configured, Erwin is straightforward. You can deploy it in a few hours. In our case, it took a couple of months to address internal conditions, assign machines, and set up everything for the services. I rate the initial setup a six out of ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

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Adbul Samad Gabru

Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Look Alive Investment Pvt. Ltd.

An exceptionally stable and scalable product that helps businesses in the area of data integrity

I am kind of not at the forefront of anything anymore in my company. I kind of don't want to give a point of view on what needs improvement when I feel I am not adequately in a position to give it. In today's time, to be competitive, the solution's price should be lowered.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The principal feature that I liked is that the solution has a very graphic interface."

"What has been useful, I have been able to reverse engineer our existing data models to document explicitly referential integrity relationships, primary/foreign keys in the model, and create ERDs that are subject area-based which our clients can use when working with our databases. The reality is that our databases are not explicitly documented in the DDL with primary/foreign key relationships. You can't look at the DDL and explicitly understand the primary/foreign key relationships that exist between our tables, so the referential integrity is not easily understood. erwin has allowed me to explicitly document that and create ERDs. This has made it easier for our clients to consume our databases for their own purposes."

"The most valuable features are being able to visualize the data in the diagrams and transform those diagrams into physical database deployments. These features help, specifically, to integrate the data. When the source data is accumulated and modeled, the target model is in erwin and it helps resolve the data integration patterns that are required to map the data to accommodate a model."

"One of the best aspects of the tool is its reverse engineering capability."

"The data lineage feature is very valuable."

"It's important to create standard templates — Erwin is good at that — and you can customize them. You can create a standard template so that your models have the same look and feel. And then, anyone using the tool is using the same font and the same general layout. erwin's very good at helping enforce that."

"erwin has versioning so you can keep versions, over time, of those models and you can compare any version to any version. If you're looking at a specific database and you want to see what changed over time, that's really useful. You can go back to a different version or connect that to your change-control processes so you can see what was released when."

"We find that its ability to generate database code from a model for a wide array of data sources cuts development time. The ability to create one model in your design phase and then have it generate DDL code for Oracle or Teradata, or whichever environment you need is really nice. It's not only nice but it also saves man-hours of time. You would have to take your design and just type in manually. It has to take days off out of the work."

More erwin Data Modeler pros

"It is a very professional product. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

Cons

"We are planning to move, in 2021, into their server version, where multiple data modelers can work at the same time and share their models. It has become a pain point to merge the models from individual desktops and get them into a single data model, when multiple data modelers are working on a particular project. It becomes a nightmare for the senior data modeler to bring them together, especially when it comes to recreating them when you want to merge them."

"The reverse engineering in Oracle Databases needs improvement, as there are issues."

"I would like the solution to be less rigid in terms of its theory."

"There is a lack of local support in the China region."

"One of the things I've been talking to the erwin team about through the years is that every data model should have the ability to be multi-language... When I was working at Honda, it became very difficult to work with the Japanese teams using just one model. You can have two models, one in English and one in Japanese, but that means you have to keep the updates back and forth, and that always increases the risk of something not being updated."

"I would like to see the reporting capabilities be more dynamic and more inclusive of information. The API is very sparsely understood by people across the user community."

"Some Source official systems give us DDLs to work with and they have contents not required to be part of the DDL before we reverse engineer in the erwin DM. Therefore, we manually make changes to those scripts and edit them, then reverse-engineer within the tool. So, it does take some time to edit these DDL scripts generated by the source operational systems. What I would suggest: It would be helpful if there were a place within the erwin tool to import the file and automatically eliminate all the unnecessary lines of code, and just have the clean code built-in to generate the table/data model."

"The modeling product itself is far and above anything else that I've seen on the market. There are certain inconsistencies when it comes to keeping up with other platforms' databases in the reverse-engineering process. It should also support more database platforms."

More erwin Data Modeler cons

"In today's time, to be competitive, the solution's price should be lowered."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"An issue right now would be that erwin doesn't have a freely available browser (that I am aware of) for people who are not data modelers or data engineers that a consumer could use to look at the data models and play with it. This would not be to make any changes, but just to visually look at what exists. There are other products out there which do have end user browsers available and allow them to access data models via the data modeling tool."

"The price should be lower in order to be on the same level as its competitors."

"Pricing is very high compared to any other product."

"The price of erwin Data Modeler is very expensive, in particular for this part of the world."

"Though the solution is not cheap, it's worth the money."

"I don't specifically know what we're paying now. About three years ago, in another organization, I have this memory of 6,000 AUD a seat or something like that, but I am not sure. In the mid-2000s, it was something like 1,200 AUD a seat. I get the impression that there was a price jump when it was spun off from CA as a separate company, which is understandable, but it could sometimes be a barrier in some organizations picking it up. I haven't talked to erwin people yet, but I'm going to suggest to them that they could perhaps think of having an entry-level product that is priced a bit lower, and then, you can buy the extra suite."

"Likewise, the solution is a little pricey."

"We've continued to use the product for many years and compared it with others on the market. The pricing is reasonable considering what the solution offers and what we pay. There are cheaper tools, but they may not be as robust and easy to use, so it's worth the money."

More erwin Data Modeler pricing and cost advice

"It is an expensive product. In a company, you need to employ additional people to take care of the product, which can be considered as a part of the sundry expenses when it comes to the product."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

18%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	14
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	29

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

Forward engineering, DDL generation, reverse engineering, and reporting are the most valuable features of the solution.

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

I do not recall the pricing from about a year and a half ago, but it seems reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with erwin Data Modeler by Quest?

erwin Data Modeler could improve its UI as it still feels old school and not very modern. There are many features, and I would expect good documentation detailing each feature, including when and h...

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What do you like most about SAS Data Governance?

It is a very professional product. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAS Data Governance?

It is an expensive product. In a company, you need to employ additional people to take care of the product, which can be considered as a part of the sundry expenses when it comes to the product.

See all answers

What needs improvement with SAS Data Governance?

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Compared 38% of the time

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Compared 18% of the time

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Compared 12% of the time

Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 6% of the time

Visio vs erwin Data Modeler

Compared 6% of the time

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Microsoft Purview Data Governance vs SAS Data Governance

Compared 100% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

erwin Data Modeler

October 2025

Download erwin Data Modeler product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Governance

September 2025

Download SAS Data Governance product report

Also Known As

erwin DM

No data available

Overview

Erwin Data Modeler provides an effective approach to visualizing and managing data models. It assists in creating, reversing, and synchronizing data models with ease, supporting logical and physical transitions while enhancing understanding across teams.

Erwin Data Modeler is a comprehensive tool designed for professional database management. It offers capabilities to organize and enforce standards, automating script generation with robust reverse engineering and DDL output. Users can manage complex data environments, capitalize on integration with data intelligence, and maintain large-scale databases smoothly. Despite its strengths, improvements in multi-language support, database integration, and reporting features are needed. Users benefit from extensive support for conceptual, logical, and physical database modeling, enhancing architectural design and data governance for platforms like SQL Server, Oracle, and Teradata.

What are the key features of Erwin Data Modeler?

Visual Representation: Facilitates clear visualization of data models, aiding comprehension.
Versioning and Editing: Enhance usability with versioning and bulk editing capabilities.
Reverse Engineering: Offers powerful tools for reverse engineering and DDL generation.
Integration: Aligns with data intelligence to streamline database management.
Naming Standards: Enforces consistency with automated script creation.

What benefits should users consider in Erwin Data Modeler reviews?

Collaboration: Promotes team understanding and collaboration through visual tools.
Automation: Reduces manual effort through automated processes and integration.
Scalability: Handles large database management efficiently, crucial for enterprise settings.
Data Governance: Facilitates effective data governance with structured modeling.

Erwin Data Modeler finds application in industries focused on robust data management, implementing it for enterprise data warehouses, business domain models, and operational systems. It supports architectural design and governance, aligning with business applications demanding precise data representation and visualization.

Quest Software

SAS Data Governance helps you maintain a consistent set of policies, processes and owners for your corporate information - including big data sets in Hadoop and Impala. You'll spend less time managing your data - and more time managing your business.

SAS

Sample Customers

Premera, America Honda Motors, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Dental Dental Cali, Cigna, Staples

Canada Post, Ceska pojistovna, Chantecler, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, iJET, Invacare, Livzon Pharmaceutical Group, Los Angeles County, Transitions Optical, Triad Analytic Solutions, UNIQA, US Census Bureau

Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, Informatica, Collibra and others in Data Governance. Updated: September 2025.

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